September 28, 2007
by Mean Machine Sailing Team
28 Sep |
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Mean Machine shows consistency is the name of the sailing game in Porto Cervo
Peter de Ridder’s team hold third place joined on points with second place Windquest, while Artemis leads the rankings at the TP 52 Global Championship with two days of racing to go.
The crème of the TP 52’s from 11 nations; the world’s finest skippers, tacticians and crews; the Rolex Global TP 52 Championship 2007 is the class’s reply to a fantastic Med season, and Mean Machine is ready for the challenge.
Following a respectable run in the prestigious MedCup Circuit, and a sixth place finish overall, the team are hungry for one last win with 2006’s best TP 52. The battleground is Italy’s altar to yachting, the Sardinian port of Porto Cervo on the famous ‘Costa Smeralda’, or Emerald Coast; the contenders for the World Champion crown are 15 of the world’s mighty TP 52 fleet.
Racing began on Monday 24th September with some less than stable conditions. Driving rain and shifty winds made starting somewhat problematic for the Race Committee. The battle eventually commenced following a to hour delay, with some north-westerly breeze making an appearance for the boats to get going. Mean Machine made a strong start thanks to America’s Cup star Ray Davies’ choice tactics, but with the breeze playing capricious games with the fleet, the team were in seventh place by the time they reached the finish line.
By the second and final race of the day, the breeze had picked up to 15-16 knots. After a 16:00 start, Mean Machine raced through to take 4th place, and a joint 4th place with Cristabella and Spain’s Mutua Madrileña on the scoreboard of the Global Championship, behind Ireland’s Patches in first place, Artemis and Italy’s Anonimo.
Three races were sailed on day 2 of the competition under sunshine, blue skies and breeze of 15 knots upwards. It was an eventful day for the fleet with no less than 13 false starts called by the Race Committee. The breeze, however, was a lot steadier, rising up to 20 knots by the third race of the day. Mean Machine consolidated a strong start with a 6th, 3rd and 6th in each of the day’s races respectively. Consistency paid off with boat with the black hull and the pink flames rising from her bow holding 3rd place in the overall standings, just 2 points behind Eamonn Coneely’s Patches and 12 points away from leaders Artemis.
Racing was cancelled on the third day of the competition as strong Mistral winds of 29 – 33 knots meant the Race Committee called off the battle.
Today the teams have been subjected to pretty powerful breeze, as well as none at all. Out on the course off the La Maddalena archipelago the teams experienced everything from 50 kilometre an hour gusts to a complete disappearance of one of sailing’s most important elements. The fleet raced a coastal race of 35 miles around Sardinia’s Cala di Volpe; a race that turned into a game of chance, thanks to the flighty fancies of the wind.
The five hours certainly gave a lot of action. De Vos’s Windquest was leading, followed by Artemis with strong 20-knot conditions. Mean Machine didn’t make such a great start, but made up for it by climbing with all her might to the top five fleet leaders, along with Windquest, Stay Calm, Artemis y Patches. As the fleet approached the halfway mark things took a dramatic turn, with the positions turning on their head and chance coming into play. Fortunately the Mean Machine afterguard rose to the challenge, hunting down any wind pressure they could get their hands on, and thanks to some great sail changes by Peter de Ridder’s trimmers all was not lost. Despite further interference by chance shaking up the positions, Mean Machine recovered 10 places in the last stretch as the fleet were greeted by rain showers and 25 knot winds.
The finish line in Porto Cervo saw Russell Coutts and Artemis head home first, followed by Windquest, Mutua Madrileña, Glory, Siemens and in sixth place Peter de Ridder’s Mean Machine.
Racing continues tomorrow with the fleet returning to the windward – leeward format. Mean Machine lie in third place overall, joint on points with second place Windquest. The prize-giving ceremony will take place on Saturday.
Provisional General Standings –boat, skipper, R1,R2,R3,R4,R5, Total Points.
1. Artemis. Torbjorn Torqnvist. 6+1+1+2+4+1.25=15.25 PTS
2. Windquest.Doug de Vos. 8+6+5+1+11+2.50=33.50
3. Mean Machine. Peter de Ridder 7+4+6+3+6+7.50=33.50
4. Stay Calm.Stuart Robinson.12+7+2+4+3+8.75=36.75
5. Patches. Stuart Childerley. 1+5+9+8+1+15=39.00
6. Mutua Madrileña. Antonio Sordo 9+2+13+7+5+3.75=39.75
7. Glory. John Buchan. 3+13+3+10+7+6.25=41.00
8. Siemens.Alberto Roemmers 11+8+10+5+2+6.25=42.25
9. CAM Fernando León. 5+12+8+6+12+10=53.00
10. Cristabella. John Cook. 2+16+4+11+10+13.75=56.75
